Pages

Sunday, 20 March 2011

Berbatov beats Bolton as United go five clear: top tier round-up

Premier League

Having slipped up against West Brom, we needed Bolton to have at least held Manchester United at Old Trafford for it to be a point gained. This was not the case; a rare Jussi Jaaskelainen mistake saw Dimitar Berbatov bundle home in the 88th minute to win all three points for the Red Devils.

To make matters worse, Chelsea beat Manchester City 2-0 at Stamford Bridge to power their way back into contention for the title. Second half goals from David Luiz and Ramires gave the Blues a win in a tightly contested game in London.

There was a result to put smirks on our faces in Saturday's lunch time kick-off, a 0-0 draw between Sp*rs and West Ham at White Hart Lane. Defoe in particular, who had his "100 Goals" shirt ready to be revealed, missed a hatful of chances, with Rob Green in top form.

Liverpool continued to rebuild their season with an impressive, hard-fought win at the Stadium of Light. Dirk Kuyt scored a debatable - to say the least - penalty, before Luis Suarez kept up his excellent form, finishing off a good run with a sensational shot. John Mensah was given his marching orders late on for a second bookable offence.

Elsewhere, Wigan came back to beat Birmingham 2-1 with a strike from Maynor Figueroa winning it at the death, while Everton overcame Fulham by the same scoreline at Goodison Park. Stoke thrashed Newcastle 4-0 at the Britannia, and a Matt Jarvis stunner was enough for Wolves to beat Aston Villa - and drag their rivals into a relegation battle.

Finally, Blackburn came back to force a draw with relegation rivals Blackpool at Ewood Park. A ridiculous penalty was slotted home by Charlie Adam, who bent a beautiful free kick right into the "postage stamp" five minutes later to make it 2-0. A goal from Chris Samba got the home side back in it, before Junior Hoilett snatched a point at the death.

La Liga

Real Madrid kept up with Barcelona with a 2-1 derby win over Atletico Madrid. Karim Benzema kept up his wonderful form, opening the scoring with a deft finish past David de Gea, before Mesut Ozil made it two. Sergio Aguero grabbed a late goal for Atleti, but it turned out only to be a consolation for los Rojiblancos.

Barca beat Getafe to stay five points clear of Real having played the same amount of games. Goals in each half from Dani Alves and Bojan put the league leaders 2-0 up, and Manu's 88th minute goal didn't change the outcome of the game.

Bottom of the table Malaga got a huge win at home to fifth placed Espanyol, winning 2-0 to jump two places to 18th. Levante scored a last-gasp winner to pull away from opponents Deportivo la Coruna, who remain in trouble at the bottom. Racing Santander gained on Real Sociedad by beating them 2-1.

Mid-table Osasuna thrashed Hercules 4-0 away from home, and the losers find themselves propping up the table with nine games to play. Sporting Gijon climbed to 15th with a 1-0 win over Almeria, while Athletic Bilbao and Villarreal are currently at half time, with the score 0-0. Sevilla are due to play Valencia later tonight.

Serie A

Inter Milan closed the gap on AC Milan to two points at the top, with Giampaolo Pazzini scoring the winner on 52 minutes. His cool finish was the only thing that could separate Inter and opponents Lecce, who put up a good fight. Milan were undone by a 10th minute goal from Palermo's Goian in a tough away clash, and now face a real battle with rivals Inter for the title.

A double from Francesco Totti helped Roma to a 2-2 draw at Fiorentina, leaving his side 6 points behind 4th placed Napoli, who play Cagliari at 7:45pm. Juventus kept their Europa League dreams alive, with club legend Alessandro del Piero getting the winner against Brescia. Udinese saw off Catania 2-0, Gokhan Inler and Di Natale scoring.

Parma beat Sampdoria 1-0 thanks to Zaccardo, leaving their opponents in a bad position near the bottom of the table. Chievo beat bottom side Bari 2-1, while Bologna and Genoa played out a 1-1 draw.